The Southwestern Tagalog Region,[3] officially designated as MIMAROPA
Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also
formerly designated as Region IV-B until 2016. It is one of two
regions in the country having no land border with another region (the
other being Eastern Visayas). The name is an acronym combination of
its constituent provinces:
MindoroMindoro (divided into Occidental Mindoro
and Oriental Mindoro), Marinduque,
RomblonRomblon and Palawan.
The region was part of the now-defunct
Southern TagalogSouthern Tagalog region until
17 May 2002.[4] On 23 May 2005,
PalawanPalawan and the highly urbanized city
of
Puerto PrincesaPuerto Princesa were moved to the region of
Western VisayasWestern Visayas by
Executive Order No. 429.[5] However, on 19 August 2005, then-President
Arroyo issued Administrative Order No. 129 to put in abeyance
Executive Order No. 429 pending a review.[6] On 17 July 2016, Republic
Act No. 10879 formally established the Southwestern Tagalog Region to
be known as the MIMAROPA Region discontinuing the "Region IV-B"
designation, however no boundary changes were involved.[3]
CalapanCalapan is Mimaropa's regional center. However, most regional
government offices such as the Department of Public Works and
Highways[7] and the Department of Budget and Management are in Quezon
City, Metro Manila.

History[edit]
MIMAROPA Region, together with CALABARZON, were officially created
with the partitioning of Region IV (Southern Tagalog) into the two
regions on 17 May 2002 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 103 by
then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; for the purpose of promoting
efficiency in the government, accelerating social and economic
development and improving public services in the provinces covered.
Region IV-B was designated as MIMAROPA, which stands for the island
provinces belonging to the
Southern TagalogSouthern Tagalog region—
MindoroMindoro (Oriental
and Occidental), Marinduque,
RomblonRomblon and Palawan. Region IV-A was
designated as CALABARZON.[4]
On 23 May 2005, Executive Order 429 was issued, moving the province of
PalawanPalawan to the region of Western Visayas,[5] designating Region IV-B
as MIMARO. However,
PalawanPalawan residents criticized the move, citing a
lack of consultation, with most residents in
Puerto PrincesaPuerto Princesa and
nearly all municipalities preferring to stay with Region IV-B.
Consequently, Administrative Order No. 129 was issued on 19 August
2005 to address this backlash. This order directed the abeyance of
Executive Order 429 pending the approval of an implementation plan for
the orderly transfer of
PalawanPalawan from
MimaropaMimaropa to Region VI.[6]
The 2010 Philippine Census of Population reported the region's name as
"MIMAROPA" and included
PalawanPalawan as part of the region.[8] As of
2014[update], it is not clear whether the transfer of
PalawanPalawan to
Western VisayasWestern Visayas is still considered pending by the Philippine
government. As of 2014[update], the National Statistical Coordinating
Board of the
PhilippinesPhilippines continued to list
PalawanPalawan province as part of
the
MimaropaMimaropa region.[9][needs update]
On 17 July 2016, Republic Act No. 10879 formally established the
Southwestern Tagalog Region to be known as the MIMAROPA Region. This
involved no boundary changes but was in effect merely a renaming and
discontinuation of the "Region IV-B" designation.[3]
Demographics[edit]

Population census of Mimaropa

Year
Pop.
±%

1990
1,774,074
—

2000
2,299,229
+29.6%

2010
2,744,671
+19.4%

2015
2,963,360
+8.0%

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[2][10]

Languages[edit]
The native languages of MIMAROPA are:

Alangan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Asi, spoken in Romblon.
Buhid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Calamian Tagbanwa, spoken in Palawan.
Cuyonon, spoken in Palawan.
Hanunoo, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Hiligaynon, spoken in
RomblonRomblon and Palawan.
Iraya, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Onhan, spoken in Romblon.
Palawano, spoken in Palawan.
Romblomanon, spoken in Romblon.
Tadyawan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Tagalog, spoken in Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque,
Romblon, and Palawan. It is the regional lingua franca.
Tausug, spoken in southwestern Palawan.
Tawbuid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.

Economy[edit]
In 2007, Mimaropa's economy surged by 9.4%, making it the fastest
growing region in the country in that year.[11] It was aided by robust
growth in the industrial sector which grew by 19.1% from -6.1% in
2006.[11]
MimaropaMimaropa experienced a big slowdown in 2006, posting a
decelerated growth of 2.3% from a 6.4% increase in 2005. This resulted
mainly from the slump in the industry sector, which shrunk by 5.4% in
2006 from its 10.8% increase in 2005.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector, which contributed 42.1%
to the total regional economy, grew by 9.1% in 2006, accelerating from
3.2% the previous year. The higher production of palay, corn, other
crops, livestock and fishery resulted in the accelerated growth in the
total agriculture and fishery sector.
The industry sector, which contributed 38.3% to the region’s total
economy, was the second largest contributor next to agriculture. Its
decline of 5.4% was largely attributed to the decrease in the mining
and quarrying sub-sector, which went down by 15.4% due to the reduced
production of natural gas in Palawan. Mining and quarrying contributed
16.6% to the total regional economy. The positive growth in the
electricity and water, construction and manufacturing sub-sectors were
not able to compensate to the drop in the mining and quarrying
sub-sector.
The service sector, on the other hand, posted an accelerated growth of
5.1%, which was attributed to the increase in the TCS, finance,
private services, government services and trade sub-sectors, which
managed to post accelerated growths of 6.0%, 5.5%, 5.1%, 5.1% and
4.7%, respectively. The other sub-sector, however, had a decelerated
growth due to the slowdown in the ownership of dwelling.
Tourism[edit]
There are many scenic spots in Mimaropa. Some of them are the Bathala
Cave, Balanacan Bay, and Tres Reyes Islands in the province of
Marinduque; White Island in Mindoro; Fort San Andres, Mount
Guiting-Guiting, and Bonbon Beach in Romblon; and the Puerto Princesa
Subterranean River National Park and El Nido Marine Reserve Park in
Palawan.
Administrative divisions[edit]
MimaropaMimaropa comprises 5 provinces, 1 highly urbanized city (Puerto
Princesa), 1 component city (Calapan), 71 municipalities and 1,458
barangays.

^ http://nap.psa.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/listreg.asp
^ a b c Census of Population (2015). Highlights of the Philippine
Population 2015 Census of Population. PSA. Retrieved 20 June
2016.
^ a b c "An Act establishing the Southwestern Tagalog Region, to be
known as the MIMAROPA Region". July 17, 2016. Archived from the
original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^ a b "Executive Order No. 103: Dividing Region IV into CALABARZON
Region and MIMAROPA Region, Transferring the Province of Aurora to
Region III and for Other Purposes".
Philippine Statistics AuthorityPhilippine Statistics Authority -
National Statistical Coordination Board. Archived from the original on
3 September 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
^ a b "Executive Order No. 429: Providing for the Reorganization of
Administrative Region VI to Include the Province of
PalawanPalawan and Puerto
Princesa City".
Philippine Statistics AuthorityPhilippine Statistics Authority - National Statistical
Coordination Board. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018.
Retrieved 1 November 2014.
^ a b "Administrative Order no. 129" Archived 2006-02-19 at the
Wayback Machine.. National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved
on 2011-03-22.
^ "Region IV-B Directory: Regional Office Directory". Department of
Public Works and Highways. Archived from the original on 2 August
2012. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
^ "Population and Annual Growth Rates by Province, City, and
Municipality : Region IVB - MIMAROPA: 1990, 2000, and 2010". 2010
Philippine Census of Population. Census.gov.ph. Archived from the
original on 2012-07-07.
^ "Region: REGION IV-B (MIMAROPA)". National Statistical Coordinating
Board of the Philippines. Archived from the original on 2014-08-02.
Retrieved 2012-05-26.
^ "Population and Annual Growth Rates for The
PhilippinesPhilippines and Its
Regions, Provinces, and Highly Urbanized Cities" (PDF). 2010 Census
and Housing Population. Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 9 August
2013.
^ a b "NSCB - 2007 Gross Regional Domestic Product". National
Statistical Coordination Board. 28 July 2008. Archived from the
original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
^ "
Puerto PrincesaPuerto Princesa to hold plebiscite simultaneous with May 14
elections" (Press release). Philippine Information Agency. April 27,
2007.